Archived Hell Has Frozen Over

The Detroit Lions have won Super Bowl XLVII 45-42 over the New England Patriots!​

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - ​

The Detroit Lions have come full circle from being a bottom dweller to champions of the world, defeating the New England Patriots 45-42 thanks to a game winning 44 yard field goal as time expired. ​

The Patriots won the toss, and promptly showed why Tom Brady was Offensive MVP, as he connected with speedy Randy Mcclain for a 61 yard TD pass. Knowing full well that the Lions defense wouldn't be able to stop the Pats attack, a steady dose of running and high percentage pass attempts were going to be needed to systematically march down the field. Thankfully, Cadillac Williams would even the score off a 2 yard TD run at the end of the first quarter. ​

Things opened up a bit in the 2nd quarter. Brady would throw another TD pass, to former Michigan Wolverine, TE Jalen Driskell to retake the lead. Two minutes later, Matthew Stafford would connect with veteran WR Nate Burleson to even things up. An Alphonso Smith INT of Brady, and an exchange of punts set up the next score, thanks to a 53 yard field goal by Connor Barth. Speedy KR Bryant Peterson returned the ensuing kickoff for TD to take a 21-17 lead, however, Nate Burleson would set up the Lions deep back into Patriots territory setting up a Jahvid Best TD run, going up 24-21. After a stalled Patriots drive, the Lions, under Stafford's leadership would march down the field with limited timeouts remaining, and score another TD at the end of the half.​

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With a 31-21 lead and ball coming back to Detroit in the second half, Connor Barth would add his second FG on the day and then the Patriots started to put things together. First was another long TD catch and run by Randy Mcclain, followed by this unbelievably athletic play by big Vince Wilfork. Wilfork responded to an incredible play by Lions DE Antwan Odom to intercept a screen pass. ​

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With a 35-34 lead, New England was starting to tighten their grips on the lead, but Detroit would not relent. Cadillac Williams would score again from 2 yards out, and Calvin Johnson would snare the 2 point conversion to retake the lead, 42-35 in the 4th quarter. ​

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Per usual, the Patriots offense was just too much for the Lions secondary. Jalen Driskell scored for the second time on the day to even the score with this incredible run after catch. ​

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Finally, with under 3:50 to play and starting off at their own 14 yard line, Matthew Stafford orchestrated a masterful drive to set up Connor Barth for this 44 yard FG attempt. ​

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With this Barth field goal, life long Lions fans exhaled a breath of relief and satisfaction after years of being the laughing stock of the NFL. But alas, no longer will the Lions be bottom dwellers. ​

Matthew Stafford performed admirably all year long, and Calvin Johnson played through several minor injuries throughout the game. Hats off to Jaged for a well played game. Your offense is sick, and I was lucky enough to catch some breaks to be able to keep your skill guys off the field. ​

On another note, it was a great 3 season run in PMFL this year. Thanks to Doug, Eddie, and the rest of the league for helping bring forth everyone's best efforts to make PMFL among the best Madden leagues out there (best in my opinion). Here's hoping PMFL continues on PS3 next year .​